Chapter 2

The unsettling feeling inside me grew stronger. I went straight to the monitoring room to review the surveillance footage of that surgery.

The recording showed Victor and Tiffany arriving late. The patient was already anesthetized, her face covered with a sterile drape, when they strolled into the operating room as if nothing were wrong, taking their sweet time.

Victor was the lead surgeon, and Tiffany was the instrument nurse.

But those two had no focus on the surgery at all. Their flirtatious glances never stopped.

Nurse Jenkins cleared her throat, beginning to verify the patient's information.

"October 17th, OR 1, first surgery, patient verification. Patient Martha—"

"Alright, alright, don't waste time. What does the patient's name have to do with the surgery? It's just one thyroidectomy today, can't get it wrong."

Victor cut Nurse Jenkins off and immediately started the surgery.

Tiffany gave Nurse Jenkins a slight, smug bump, signaling her to move away from Victor's side.

Nurse Jenkins, already annoyed with Victor, just stepped aside.

Soon after the surgery began, Tiffany absentmindedly handed over the wrong size clamp when passing a vascular forceps.

Nurse Jenkins immediately spoke up.

"Tiffany, that's the wrong one."

But instead of admitting her mistake, Tiffany rolled her eyes at the experienced nurse. "Oh, who cares if it's wrong? Why are you so loud? You startled me!"

"This is an operating room! It's a matter of life and death! You're wrong, and you're still arguing?"

Tiffany was so flustered, her eyes welled up.

Victor instantly bristled. He slammed his scalpel down into the tray with a loud *clank*, pointing at Nurse Jenkins's nose and yelling,

"I'm the surgeon, and I didn't say anything! Who are you to boss anyone around here?!"

After yelling, Victor grabbed Tiffany's arm. The two of them stomped out of the operating room, leaving the patient mid-surgery, abandoned on the operating table!

Chaos erupted in the operating room. A young nurse quickly ran after them. Nurse Jenkins, meanwhile, directed the others to continue the surgery while making a call to report the situation to a superior.

I fast-forwarded the recording. It took a full forty minutes for Victor and Tiffany, the two culprits, to reappear on screen.

Their faces showed no urgency at all. Instead, they had an arrogant, exasperated expression, as if we had to beg them to return.

It was at that moment that the heart monitor's waveform grew weaker and weaker, finally emitting a piercing "beep—" and flattening into a straight line. The shrill alarm echoed throughout the operating room.

Victor shuffled over to the operating table, pretending to press the patient's chest a few times, just going through the motions.

"Alright, can't save her."

From start to finish, he didn't even bother to lift the drape covering the patient's face to take a look! There wasn't a single shred of guilt in his eyes!

Even if he didn't know it was his own mother lying there, such disregard for life and utter irresponsibility made my blood boil, and my stomach churned with disgust!

As I unlocked the monitoring room door and stepped out, I bumped into Sarah Olsen, a new nurse from our department, in the hallway.

The moment she saw me, she rushed over, her face a mix of cautiousness and eagerness to show concern. "Dr… Dr. Hayes… about your aunt… my condolences…"

"It was my mother-in-law who passed away," I calmly corrected her. "Not my mom. But thank you anyway."

"Oh?!" Sarah's eyes widened, her face flushing with embarrassment. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Dr. Hayes! I misunderstood. When your aunt came to see you that day, she said she was your mother, so I just assumed…"

Of course, I knew my mother-in-law, Martha Thorne, had made a scene when she came to the hospital last time. I wasn't surprised she'd become gossip fodder for the younger nurses. I shook my head, indicating I didn't mind.

Sarah still looked regretful.

"Yesterday, when I was scheduling surgeries, I even specifically told Dr. Thorne that today's patient was Dr. Hayes's mom. He heard me and agreed readily… Sigh, how could an accident happen?"

"What did you say?!" I cut her off. "You told Victor that my mom was on the operating table?!"

Sarah jumped, stammering, "Y-yes…"

Sarah was new and had no idea Victor and I were married, nor did she know that my mother-in-law was Victor's actual mother. She looked at me with confusion.

I took a deep breath, utterly flabbergasted.

No wonder! No wonder that scum, Victor, was forcing me to sign a waiver for *his own mother*! No wonder he could cruelly say my mom's funeral was "a downer"!

Because he always thought it was my mom lying on that operating table!

Suddenly, my heart lurched. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Victor, before entering the operating room, already "knew" my mom was inside!

So, those forty minutes he and Tiffany were gone… was it truly a spur of the moment fit of pique, or was it deliberate?

Medical accident, and intentional killing, are two entirely different things.